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Lot Essay
Indonesian artist Oky Rey Montha is known for his eccentric surrealist style of paintings that combines pop culture with gothic elements in dream-like environs, delicately treading the fine line between what is real and unreal. He studied in the prestigious Indonesian Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta, which considers established artists such as I Nyoman Masriadi and Heri Dono amongst its notable alumni. Montha brings together a wide variety of influences from music to literature - and even the spiritual - melding them in a fluidity of highly detailed forms.
Tribute to Evorah resembles a painted scroll in the extremely wide format it takes on. The title itself is a reference to one of his first ever solo exhibitions, wherein Evorah is explained as an acronym for Evil of Rabbit Head, and relates to the colourful and chaotic quality of his work that expresses a bitter irony, which obscures a dark undercurrent that permeates his works. This dynamic motley crew of characters in Tribute to Evorah, is heavily imbued with a symbolism, and has an element of fantasy to them, but simultaneously carry a sense that they are caricatures of protagonists that come from real life.
Montha depicts himself as the rightmost figure in the painting, an artist with a vivid imagination, overflowing while filled with ideas to create art, envisioning putting these onto canvas. It is an intricate multidimensional weaving of elements, influences and inspirations, cajoling the self in a dream-like state towards his creative process. Somewhat biographical, paintings are a personal narrative to him as it ponders the ups and downs of life, which he declares as colourful and rich as a flower field in full bloom, far-ranging and serving as the main source of inspiration for his work. The reference and imagination structuring his artistry, flows via a visual melody that bursts and ultimately culminates into the final work on the leftmost panel on the composition.
The details and varied elements on the work itself, talks about the personal struggle with friends, the art scene and his family, and also documents the psychological state of the artist himself. All these factors are the main contributors to each of his works created. Arguably the most significant work of his oeuvre to come to market, the work demonstrates the intense emotions of the artist, whilst simultaneously creating a vivid pictorial symphony with its immense panoramic scale, immortalising his memories and experiences into something fresh and positive.
Tribute to Evorah resembles a painted scroll in the extremely wide format it takes on. The title itself is a reference to one of his first ever solo exhibitions, wherein Evorah is explained as an acronym for Evil of Rabbit Head, and relates to the colourful and chaotic quality of his work that expresses a bitter irony, which obscures a dark undercurrent that permeates his works. This dynamic motley crew of characters in Tribute to Evorah, is heavily imbued with a symbolism, and has an element of fantasy to them, but simultaneously carry a sense that they are caricatures of protagonists that come from real life.
Montha depicts himself as the rightmost figure in the painting, an artist with a vivid imagination, overflowing while filled with ideas to create art, envisioning putting these onto canvas. It is an intricate multidimensional weaving of elements, influences and inspirations, cajoling the self in a dream-like state towards his creative process. Somewhat biographical, paintings are a personal narrative to him as it ponders the ups and downs of life, which he declares as colourful and rich as a flower field in full bloom, far-ranging and serving as the main source of inspiration for his work. The reference and imagination structuring his artistry, flows via a visual melody that bursts and ultimately culminates into the final work on the leftmost panel on the composition.
The details and varied elements on the work itself, talks about the personal struggle with friends, the art scene and his family, and also documents the psychological state of the artist himself. All these factors are the main contributors to each of his works created. Arguably the most significant work of his oeuvre to come to market, the work demonstrates the intense emotions of the artist, whilst simultaneously creating a vivid pictorial symphony with its immense panoramic scale, immortalising his memories and experiences into something fresh and positive.